by Tara June Winch

Tara June Winch is a talented young indigenous writer who won the David Unaipon Award with this story of a young girl on a journey of self discovery. May gradually works out where she really needs to go, only to discover different, harder truths than she had imagined. The triumph of this story is that May does make the journey and eventually comes home.

Not a children’s story, nor suited to the fainthearted reader for its sometimes confronting content, this book is a poetic piece which demands something of the reader and displays the talent of this promising author.

Find out more about Swallow the Air and Tara June Winch.

by Michael Parker

This is an exciting time slip thriller, set in Sydney. Partly it is in our Sydney and partly in a quite different Sydney which is a scary place and one which is strange and nightmarish yet proves to be dangerously real. Andrew thought he had a few problems, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Never quite sure that supporting his bullying mate Josh is the right right thing to do, but too weak to do anything else, he suddenly finds himself lost in a world out of his control and faced with a seemingly twin Josh. But this version is even more worrying. Can Andrew take control and survive as well? Find out in this gripping read. There is also a website which gives lots of background to the ideas in the book, suggests a soundtrack and lists other books which inspired the author to write Doppelganger, like Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies.

by James Moloney
Australian Readers’ Challenge listed title.
Josh is enjoying his job in the lost property office at Central Station in the Christmas holidays, when he finds a photo that has his missing brother Michael in the background. Although Josh has good friends, a pretty girlfriend, is lead singer of a band and has lots of money saved from his job, his missing brother causes a pain he can’t express and is threatening to destroy his family. It is time he did something about finding Michael, and the photo is his first clue. But things are not quite as they seem. A satisfying book about a young man who finds himself while looking for his brother.

by Odo Hirsch
This author has written some wonderful children?s stories, but this book (and the memorable Yoss written a few years ago) demonstrate what a great writer he is when dealing with more serious topics. The boy of the title is barely saved from starvation when not much more than a toddler. He gets through the next few years by his wits and the friendship of other boys in similar circumstances, surviving the dangers of a medieval city without the protection of family. The book takes us on his journey of survival, for better or worse. In many ways the author shows us how lucky we are to live in a modern, civilised nation, but then again the ups and downs of Conrad’s life read as true for many people today. Excellent.

by Jared Thomas
Australian Readers’ Challenge listed title.
Aimed at older teenagers and adults, this book tells the story of Michael Sweet, a young man who has had his fair share of bad luck. But now he is finished with school, into university and able to move out of his father’s house – something he his very pleased about. Through Michael’s own account we learn about his past and how he is coping with his new life, and dealing with the inevitable issues from his past. His voice is a very realistic and sometimes confused one. We travel with him as he deals with the confusing world of girls, alcohol, and reluctantly finding out his father may have some redeeming features.

David McRobbie introduces us to two young people on different sides of the planet – Brisbane and London – and with very little in common. As we hear bits of each story we gradually realise that these two, Teresa and Brian, are going to cross paths. The results are devastating for both in very different ways. As a reader I was really sucked into this story to see how things sorted themselves out over the years for these two characters. Recommended for mature readers.